Can Grocery Shopping Be A Pleasant Experience?
Some Hints For Improving The Experience
Most women dread heading to the store for the weekly shopping experience, but hopefully you’ll enjoy it a little more now because you can see how important your food choices are for your families’, and your overall health and well being.
Mother’s have loads of power!
As a mother you have an enormous amount of power – you push the trolley, and you can decide what goes in and what stays out. It my take some time to change the way you shop, as old habits die hard, but persistence will pay off, with better health and moods in your family.
The choice of when to go shopping is an important decision, as your mental outlook and your physical state can influence your purchases. Go shopping after you’ve have had a good meal, or snack. Shopping on an empty stomach will understandably encourage impulse buys. If you are irritated or stressed when you go shopping, you will also be more vulnerable to buying comfort food. Furthermore, avoid the store when it’s really busy as this is a truly aggravating experience and can easily lead to poor choices as your main focus becomes leaving the store, not making healthy choices.
Ensure that you have a list when you enter the store, to avoid distractions and impulse buys. It’s easier to have a master list of everything that you like to have in your pantry and fridge, and then all you have to do is make a copy of this list (click here to download shopping list), and highlight the items that you want to purchase each time you go to the store. This should also ensure that you have pantry basics for the evening when you have run out of most the other items.
Avoid bulk buys and special promotions – especially if you don’t use the products! This may seem like a strange thing to comment on, but often people get sucked into a bargain, without thinking about the use of the product. It’s a false economy, and you could end up using the bulk amount in the same time that it would take you to use the normal amount, which could mean extra calories. Manufacturers would like customers to get used to large sizes, as they make more money and you come to expect the larger size as being normal.
Avoid the centre of the supermarket as much as possible, because most of the fresh or frozen produce is found around the perimeter of the processed, shelf-stable food aisles. Only go into the centre for the organic olive oil, organic bottled tomatoes, legumes and spices. This simple habit will save you from buying (or even being tempted) by the highly processed, additive-filled foods that manufacturers love you to buy. You’ll also save a lot of time, as you won’t have to read all the labels of the foods that are sold in the centre of the store.
Remember that what you’re putting into your shopping trolley eventually becomes you, so the choices that you make will be reflected in your health. Making the major food decisions for your family will help them to become healthier and lead improved lives.
Finally, if your children (and husband) haven’t been’ trained’ yet, into this different, and healthier way of eating, find something else for them to do while you go shopping. Shopping doesn’t need to be a battleground, and children can become overwhelmed and irritable when faced with items they want you to purchase, and you are saying no to. It makes more sense to educate them around the dining room table, versus in the shopping aisle, in the presence of curious strangers. If you can’t avoid taking them to the store with you, ensure that they have eaten a favorite snack before the excursion, so they are not hungry either. This will make it easier to avoid the foods that they may have become accustomed to. Remember that it is very hard for adults to break bad habits – it’s even harder for children who have no motivation for doing so.
Enjoy making the changes to your families’ diet, and enjoy the increase in energy, reduction in ill health and improved moods that accompany better health.